A dull longsword and a heartbroken villager

"You are the emperor, so consider it a stroke of luck for us all," Eric said sincerely after a pause.

With a different ruler, this dialogue simply wouldn't exist.

Wise rulers are always a minority, while incompetent rulers are a dime a dozen.

“I will grant you power, but I also have a favor to ask of you.” Carrasco stared at Eric, staring beyond the gate as if he were looking at the entire capital.

“Struggle a bit before choosing to give up on those places,” Carrasco said.

The word "struggling" has always been in Carrasco's vocabulary.

But he truly understood the meaning of this word after he was "killed" by Blakelas.

Of course, he is ultimately a different person from Bray; the struggle he just mentioned was meaningful and purposeful.

Blakes' struggle was almost an instinct, the purest human action.

For no particular reason, it's just that instead of doing nothing, it's better to try doing something.

Carrasco couldn't do that, because it would be unprofitable and too risky.

"Buying time?" Even though it wasn't said explicitly, Eric understood the implication behind the question.

Carrasco certainly didn't make Eric do this for glory or anything like that.

So, a different approach is that Carrasco intends to stall for time.

“Coincidentally, I was also planning to stall for time.” Eric took his hand out of his pocket and stretched.

“Breclas.” Carrasco and Eric said in unison.

Then the two looked at each other and smiled, like two cunning foxes.

Eric went to bet against Jonathan in place of Bray because he was pinning his hopes on Bray.

Given enough time, that one-eyed adventurer will surely be able to do something, something they can't do.

Eric didn't intend to rely entirely on Bray to turn the tide, as that was unrealistic.

“It’s been over ten minutes already, and I’m really going to waste my breath talking to you.” Eric turned around and waved his hand with his back to Carrasco.

This gesture is probably a farewell to Carrasco, though it doesn't quite look like it.

“Here you go.” Carrasco tossed a gold badge from his person to the “perennial colonel.”

“This is proof,” Carrasco said.

“Thank you, Your Majesty,” Eric said, reaching out to catch the gold medal.

But he slipped.

Eric, who had originally wanted to be cool, suddenly felt a little embarrassed.

Fortunately, he has a reliable Captain Alice.

"Please catch this important thing carefully." Alice caught the gold medal that almost fell to the ground.

"Although it looks tacky, this is Lord Carrasco's personal item."

"Fine, fine, your idol's personal item," Eric said irritably.

“He’s no longer my idol,” Alice said coldly.

"So who's your idol now?"

“That’s a private matter, and I’m sorry I can’t answer that,” Alice said.

---

In the desolate palace.

"When the commander needs to take up arms to protect himself, the battle is already lost...?" Carrasco murmured after Eric left.

"But... at the very last moment... I still need to stand at the forefront and draw the sword." He slowly rose from his throne.

At that time, people didn't need fighting power... but rather "heroes," "heroes" who could serve as pillars of support for the soul.

Bray was unaware that someone had high hopes for him.

However, even if he knew, he wouldn't do anything; he would probably just reply with an "oh."

All he had to do was swing his sword, and that was all he could do.

Today may be the day with the most mine-laying battles.

On this one day alone, Bray fought more battles than he had ever fought since he became an adventurer.

The number of Silver Species killed by Bray today is certainly not more than the number he has killed in the past few years.

However, each one is a demigod, and each one is capable of destroying an entire country on its own.

"..." Bray braced himself with his sword and took a deep breath.

Even with the angel's pouch providing energy, Bray still began to feel his strength being depleted.

I guess I was really pushing myself too hard... But if I didn't do that, it would be too late.

At the current rate, it might actually be possible to stop those silver-level beings from invading the capital.

If he is fast enough, he can eliminate any threats that could endanger the city behind him in time.

He still needs to race against time.

This kind of overdraft is necessary...

However, just as Bray was about to call out to Nick, his breath hitched.

"Thump! Thump thump!" That was the sound of a heart beating, the sound of Bray's own heartbeat.

It wasn't tension or fear, but rather that I was so focused that I couldn't hear the sounds around me.

When the surroundings fell silent, the sound of my own heartbeat and breathing was so clear.

Little Nick hung motionless high in the air.

The scene was as if some ferocious beast was slowly crawling out of the dense grass, and everyone around was too afraid to move.

Bray squinted his right eye and looked in a certain direction.

He didn't even need to use his inner eye to sense that powerful aura.

That aura was so powerful that probably any ordinary person could sense it.

"Warning! Warning! Little Nick is issuing a warning." Little Nick's voice was mechanical and emotionless.

But you could still sense the anxiety in Nick's voice.

“The great Nicol Bolas strongly advises you to evacuate immediately!” Little Nick kept saying, quite unlike his usual self.

The speech was too fast, too hasty.

"The other party is..." Nick's voice trailed off.

He was constantly twisted and squeezed by an invisible force, eventually turning into a pile of scrap metal.

"Clang." Little Nick was crushed and fell straight to the ground.

The moment Little Nick was destroyed, Bray's face darkened.

This is not a dense forest, and there are no bushes.

What slowly entered Bray's line of sight was not a ferocious beast, but a person wearing a deep red cloak.

It wasn't a thin cloak, but a thick, heavy cloak adorned with countless gold trims and fur trim.

The cloak's owner had short, jet-black hair and the composed gaze of a powerful person.

Although the first impression is of a person, is this really a person?

Of course not, Bray could almost immediately rule out the possibility that the other person was human.

The other party is someone you have to address as "He".

He is Umkandal, a demigod who controls the entire "All Gods Union".

Of course, Bray didn't know him.

However, this did not prevent Bray from recognizing His power.

In my mind's eye, Umkandal is like a blazing sun shrouded in mist.

“Originally, I wasn’t planning to pay any attention to that little toy,” Umkandal said.

His voice was deep and resonant, yet also incredibly magnetic.

Just like His image, He was like a tyrant.

“But He’s so noisy. If He were quieter, things wouldn’t be like this.” Umkandar glanced at Bray.

Umkandal has always used a humanoid form.

He is not without a physical form, but like Nicolaes, He finds many advantages in the human form.

Moreover, Umm Kandar is very interested in "clothing," and with the right attire, he can bring out a variety of personalities.

He is also interested in all kinds of lower things, as well as the power of higher things.

Although Umkandal was not as unorthodox as Nicol Bolas, his vision far surpassed that of the other Silver Races.

He never looked down on lower species, because lower species, due to the existence of civilization, possessed creativity that surpassed the imagination of all existence.

There is nothing that lower species cannot do, as long as it is unimaginable.

One day, the lower species may even be able to traverse the Kapras and travel to various smaller worlds.

Umm Kandar firmly believed that this was possible.

However, Umkandal also understood that as long as the gods controlled the rules of the world, the inferior species could never defeat them.

Even a demigod cannot defeat it.

However, the "restraint" that emerged in this era seems to have exceeded Umm Kandar's imagination.

Now, one after another, low-level species capable of killing demigods are appearing.

This made Umm Kandar marvel at how much the times had changed.

Umkandal originally did not intend to intervene in this invasion, because in His view, He did not need to take any action at all, and the world of the lower species would be easily destroyed.

He certainly knew that there were already several monastics who were capable of killing the Silver Ones.

Being able to kill the Silver Race and being able to contend with the "Alliance of the Gods" are two different things.

The "Alliance of the Gods" has the support of countless Silver Seeds.

In order to reclaim their time, it is necessary to sweep away all the inferior races and expel the interference of the golden races.

They now have a way to drive away the interference of the golden race; all that remains is to wipe out the lower races.

With hundreds of silver-tier soldiers as vanguard, they should have been able to sweep everything away and should have been invincible.

But at this moment, a variable appeared: the shaman standing before Ummkandar.

This was a huge variable; relying solely on one person and two swords, he single-handedly slaughtered the vast majority of the Silver Race in the Central Continent.

Of course, if Jonathan hadn't messed things up, causing most of the Silver-ranked players to be sent back, Bray's kill ratio wouldn't be as terrifying as it seems.

After all, getting 30-something out of 300 is different from getting 30-something out of 100.

If no one had stopped Bray, he might have actually wiped out 90% of all the Silver Race on the Central Continent.

In that case, the Black Iron race in the Central Continent might actually be able to survive.

If such a thing were to happen, Umm Kandar would find it very difficult to handle.

Ummkandar has many powerful Silver Hands under his command, but he doesn't believe any of them can reliably defeat Bray.

“Man who upholds the precepts, I ask you.”

"What is your name?" Umkandar asked softly.

“Breaklas,” Bray replied expressionlessly, his nerves completely on edge.

“Is that so, Blakeras?”

"I will remember your name."

"My name is Umkandal, the undisputed 'Lord of the Demigods.'"